On a cold Winter's day
by origami-doll
Summary: Drabble


It was the middle of winter and it was freezing cold, just as she liked it. It was weird of her to be so fond of such grim weather, she was well aware of that. As a matter of fact, Hitomi had been made fun of enough by her friends and family on account of her unusual likeness to last for a lifetime, but she didn't care. She liked the cold. Period. She liked standing by the window and looking out at the snow covering everything as far as the eye could see. It calmed her down; grounded her. Made whatever problems bothering her seem trivial and insignificant.

Putting on a light coat, she decided on a walk to a small park not too far away from where she lived. The streets were, as expected from such a day, empty and quiet. She couldn't even hear her own steps against the cobblestones as the snow seemed to muffle every sound around her. And while some might have found the scene eerie, frightful even, Hitomi felt herself being invaded by a familiar sense of serenity and peace.

A strong gush of wind went past her, almost taking with it the scarf loosely placed around her neck… Almost. Hitomi caught it on the very last second, as she always did.

Funny how such a simple action suddenly triggered her mind to dig up memories from long ago.

"_Hitomi!! Hold your scarf close to your neck."_

Her mother would always tell her on the brink of exasperation.

"_Do you want to catch a cold?! Oh, what am I to do with this child? Honey, say something."_

"_Hitomi, listen to your mother!"_

Her father would say with exaggerated graveness, trying his best not to let the tiny smile that would appear on his lips betray him.

Hitomi couldn't contain her own smile for too long. She wondered what her mother would say if she could see her now. A full grown woman not quite appropriately dressed for the snowfall she was in, with not much more common sense than she was known to have back when she was 6 years old. Indeed, her father would be proud.

She sat down on a small bench covered by snow drops as soon as she reached the deserted park, letting her eyes roam the grey sky for a moment, before closing them to take in the silence surrounding her.

She couldn't tell how long she stayed that way even if one were to ask her. Ten minutes? Fifteen? An hour? At least enough time for her lungs to be invaded by the refreshing, chilly air and for her cheeks to flush pink.

And she would have staid there, cold and content, awhile longer if suddenly a piece of warm fabric had not landed straight on her head.

"I thought I'd find you here." An amused voice was heard from behind her.

Hitomi fought to get rid of the heavy fabric only to figure out that it was in fact a coat. And a heavy coat at that. Like the ones the _cold-haters_, as she liked to call them, were known to wear in such days. She looked at the man now in front of her with a curious look.

"You weren't in bed or by the window. I figured you might be here… considering the weather." He gave her a small knowing smile, one she reciprocated. "Mind if I join you?"

Shaking her head, Hitomi shifted to the side making some room for the new occupant in the bench, her eyes connecting with his again as soon as he sat close beside her.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" He asked, suddenly confused.

"I could have left you a note saying where I was going. I know you've been worried about me lately… A lot more than you should, actually!" She reprimanded him, although his sole response to it was a silent huff. "I thought about waking you up, but you seemed so tired yesterday…"

A sound close to a chuckle escaped his lips. "I'm still tired, to be honest." He confessed, unable to hold back a yawn. "But it would have been nice to go for a walk together with you. We haven't done that in awhile. Even despite the horrible weather!"

His comment made Hitomi grin. _Cold-hater, _she thought to herself.

"Why did you come here?" He asked softly, knowing the answer already. "It's freezing," He added, moving to rub his hands against each other in an attempt to preserve the fleeting warmth.

"It started to snow," Hitomi replied simply. "I wanted to see it up close, breath in this air..." She added, and just as in a reflex her gaze darted back to the grey sky above her.

His own eyes followed the direction of her owns; his expression softening all of a sudden. He knew quite well what her eyes were searching for in the sky, even if she didn't realize it herself at the moment. There was something hidden behind the dark clouds; something very dear to her.

"You miss it, don't you?" He asked quietly.

His question surprised her. "Miss what?"

"…Your home."

"Van, this is my home!"

He smiled at her again. "You know what I mean."

Hitomi opened her mouth intent on refuting his assumption, but words ended up failing her. In the end she did know what he meant. Of course she did. And it was because she knew in her heart that he was also right that she could not bring herself to deceive him.

Instead she sighed, her eyes darting back to the sky for a moment. "Sometimes… I do miss it sometimes."

Van's hand joined her own with a gentle squeeze. "And days like this remind you more of it…" It wasn't even a question, as if he was reading her thoughts directly from her mind.

She nodded slightly; the hint of a smile gracing her lips. "I don't know why really. Maybe it's because it rarely snows here. When it does, and everything is covered by it in a way that I almost cannot recognize my surroundings, it almost feels as if I'm back there. And if I close my eyes for a moment I can almost hear my parents' or my friends' voices."

She felt his grip on her hand loosening all of a sudden, although he remained silent afterwards; seemingly musing over something. She was about to enquire over his sudden introspective state when he turned to he faced her with a strange look on his eyes.

"Do you ever regret-"

"No!"

"Hitomi, you know I'd never be crossed at you if you said ye-"

"But I said no! And if you ask me that again, your highness, I'm afraid I'll have to hit you!" She threatened, although judging by Van's amused laughter, Hitomi figured she might not had sounded very convincing.

"I like it here," She said after a few of moments. "You're here. And that's enough to make me never want to leave... The truth is _you_ are my home. Not Earth or Gaea, but you. So I don't care where I live as long as I'm with you… Hey, what's up with that silly grin?"

"Nothing." Van said, leaning closer to her. "That's nice to hear, that's all. And just so you know," He added, his lips now inches from her own. "I feel exactly the same way."

And he sealed his vow with a gentle kiss. One that could have lasted far longer than it did if a sudden twitch in his nose hadn't forced Van to turn his face away from her as a violent sneeze shook his entire body.

Hitomi handed him the heavy coat resting on her lap, trying her best not to laugh in the process. "Here you go. Put this on, before you freeze to death."

"Absolutely not. _You_ put it on. You need it far more than I do."

Hitomi rolled her eyes at him. "And there you go again, worrying about me for no reason. You're the one who sneezed, Van."

"Yes, but you're-"

"-fine! I'm perfectly fine." She insisted. "And the last thing I want is for your advisors to start thinking that their Queen is plotting to kill their King, which is exactly what they'll start thinking if I take you back with a cold." She added half-jokingly while getting up from her seat. "Come on, we should be going back anyway. Everyone will start thinking that we ran away or something if we don't soon."

Van stood up as well, his limbs already numb from the cold, but even so he placed the heavy coat around Hitomi's shoulders; despite her immediate cries of protest.

"Hey." Van said, as they started moving back towards the palace gates.

"What is it?"

"Do you think she's going to like the cold as well?" He asked with a smile, while placing one of his hands on her enlarged belly.

"You're still convinced we're having a girl, are you?"

He shrugged. "Let's call it a hunch."

Hitomi smiled and placed her hand on top of his own. "Well, I like very cold weather. You, on the other hand, like very warm weather. Considering she's a mixture of the both of us, maybe these opposites will annul each other in her and she'll end up enjoying normal weather instead."

Van frowned. "If that's the case then we might have a problem. She might not like living in Fanelia very much."

"Well, when she's older we can always send her to Asturia to spend the Summer or Winter with Millerna and Allen. The weather is always nice there."

Van stared at her as if she'd gone mad all of sudden. "Are you joking, Hitomi? As if I would let any daughter of mine get in a mile radius of Allen Schezar!!! No way! She better like Fanelia's weather, alright. Asturia?! Over my dead body!"

And he failed to understand as well why Hitomi spent the rest of their walk laughing at his comment as hard as she did.


End file.
